Did you ever have a dream that you swore was like reality? Now, how about experiencing reality that you could swear was like a dream? That’s Omega Mart.
Omega Mart is the creation of the popular Santa Fe, N.M., artist collective known as Meow Wolf. Fans of its first big art experience, House of the Eternal Return, will delight in the new, second permanent installation that recently opened inside Area15, Las Vegas’ immersive entertainment complex. This is Meow Wolf’s largest undertaking to date and is Area15’s largest tenant, spreading across 52,000 square feet of space. More than 325 artists—graphic artists, painters, architects, playwrights, actors, audio engineers, musicians, sculptors, software developers, lighting designers, technicians, visual artists and more, some local to Vegas, and some from around the world—created hundreds of unique projects that help make up the sprawling Omega Mart.
So just what is this immersive experience that allows and even encourages visitors to touch and explore everything—heck, even climb, crawl and slide—throughout the space? Omega Mart is America’s Most Exceptional Grocery Store, as Meow Wolf has coined it, and that’s exactly what visitors are first hit with—an actual replica of a grocery store, with products that can be purchased. Yes, there’s a deli, freezers, vegetable and fruit section, and aisles of canned goods, boxed products and cleaning supplies. Yet, something seems a little ... off. Something weird is going on. The products and goods seem otherworldly on closer inspection. And herein lies the beginning of what will pique the interest and curiosity of visitors, because behind the grocery store façade, one will find portals into other dimensions.
There really is no one way to experience Omega Mart. Guests can simply enjoy the sensory overload of art installations and interactive exhibits and appreciate the creativity. And those that want to delve into the story behind this extraordinary supermarket will find a core narrative—that there’s a nefarious company called Dramcorp that makes all the products using a mythical ingredient called “the source.” Using portals located throughout the store, you can explore Dramcorp’s factory and corporate offices to dive deeper into the conspiracy. Using an RFID card, available for an extra $3 after entering, you can actually unlock computers and files and try to uncover the mystery.
Through the exploration of corporate-type environments, guests will also stumble upon other more mystical worlds like the Projected Desert, one of the most immersive and transcendental artistic spaces, made up of 20-minute looping videos with original music projected onto a re-created mountainous terrain. Stumbling upon portals into other dimensions is par for the course at Omega Mart. All throughout the space, one room can lead into another world; trippy experiences saturate this immersive exhibit and guests are encouraged to dive deeper and deeper, physically and mentally.
Parts unknown, surreal landscapes, storytelling, stretches of the imagination—all fair descriptions from the Meow Wolf team and the many artists who helped create this space. And that just touches upon the Omega Mart experience that is both playful and fun, yet intellectual and mind-bending—a reality that gladly, and exceptionally, seems more like a dream.
Click here to order tickets!
3215 S. Rancho Drive, area15.com or 702.846.1900
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